EVENING. People.

You Can Ask Any Parents - They've Seen Worse

May 25, 1995

A state toxic spill team, clad in protective gear and scientific equipment, gingerly probed the mysterious mound of greenish gel near an old logging road outside Toutle, Wash.

Already, three people had been treated at a hospital after being exposed to the goo. Authorities, who had characterized the unknown substance as "highly corrosive" and perhaps life-threatening, feared the worst.

After careful analysis Tuesday, the team experts identified what they were up against:

Diapers. Lots of soiled diapers.

"It was, uh, like an absorbent gel inside the disposable diaper," said Brett Manning, a member of the state Department of Ecology's spill response team. "After sitting there for several months, it took on a greenish appearance. It was actually the urine that turned this color."